Package-tie.



G. I. MILLER.

PAGKAGE TIE.

APPLIOATION FILED p20. 16, 1913.

1,1 14,014, Patented Oct. 20, 1914,

um/whoa;

rHE NORRIS PETERS C0,. PH!" .JTHU. WASHINGTON. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT omnca CLIFTON I. MILLER, OF WASHINGTOlV, DIS TRI GT GOLU lVEBIA, EASSIGNQR OF ONE- HALF TO EDWARD J. NEWCOMB, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT PACKAGE-TIE.

: Specification of Letters Patent. 1 Pathtd 0c, 20, 1914,

Application filed December 16, 1913. seriallqio. 806,972.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatI, CLIFTON I. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing ;.at Washington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Package-Ties, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to package ties. Packages of letters and other mail matter are usually tied for transportation from. city.

to city or by mail carriers in making distribution of mail matter. Particularly in the transportation of packages of letters, is it necessary to hold them securely and against accidental unfastening of the securing. cord Where these packages aresubject to various movements and handling, as in the railway v mail service, a necessity exists for a secure.

and quickly manipulated tying or cord fastening device. which, by contact with ob andling, will not become accidentally released and, on the other hand,.may

jects or be readily engaged with the cord by either a left-handed or a right-handed person,

Preferably, such devices should have one end of the cord anchored to the clasp or clip ments of a device of this character, but a thoroughly successful letter package tie of this character has not, so far as am aware,

been devised.

My object is to provide a package tie of improved construction which will meet the above requirements and all others met with in the actual handling of mail matter where devices of this character are used.

A further object is to provide a letter package tie of simple, inexpensive and durable construction which will be of improved duplex form adapting it for the holding of the free end of the cord, regardless of the direction from which the said free end is presented to the clip, enabling the device to be used with equal facility by either left or right-handed men.

A still further object is to provide a package tie wherein the clip will be of such construction that-it cannot be accidentally tilted or tipped in handling or in engagement with other packages to thereby release the cord which is fastened thereby, but which, on the other hand, willsecurely-holdthe corduntil it is manually released therefrom. a

The invention seeks, further, to provide a packagetie wherein the clip will be so constructed and related to the cord that the knotted or secured end of the cord will emerge from beneath the clip when the latter is on-the package, without forming an obstruction 'or hump beneath the said. clip, therebypermitting the clip to lie flat on. the package of mail matter, and to prevent tilting of said clip. v i

A still further object ofthe invention is to provide,in a device of the character set forth, a. clip whose members will be connected together in an improved. manner.

The invention consists in a package tie having, first, a clip of novel construction and, second, a clip and cord combined together in an improved manner. The invention f is set forth fullyhereinafter 5 andfthenovel features thereof are recited in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective of the invention applied to a package of letters;Fig. 2, a side elevation or edge view of theclip, showing a portion of the cord; .Fig. 3 a longitudinal section through the clip; Fig. 4:,a plan view of the clip; and Fig. 5, a crosssection through the center of the clip. 7

The clip consists of a relatively rigid lowermember land a springy or resilient upper member 2. The lower member 1 may also. be of resilient material, but preferably it is a stamping of non-resilient. material, thereby cheapening and strengthening its construction. The member 1 is provided at its center with an arch 3 extending completely thereacross, the crown of the arch being provided with a hole 4 centrally there of. Lips 5 which are integral with the memher 1, are bent up, over and down on the central part of the resilient member 2 and partway across its tip (Fig.4), the edges of the member 2 being notched at 6 to receive the bent portions 5, thereby locking the members 1 and 2 together at their centers and preventing relative lateral or longitudinal shifting thereof. The member 2 has a hole 7 in alinement with the hole 4.

Through these holes passes a cord 8 which has a knot 9 which is disposed on top of the member 2, and thus one end of the cord 8 is anchored to the clasp, leaving but one free end 8 of said cord for engagement with the members 1 and 2. The arch 3 provides sufiicient space for the accommodation of the cord as it emerges from the hole 4 and runs 5. laterally,-to prevent any hump being interposed b the cord between the member 1 and the pae age ofmail matter, thereby enabling the member 1 to lie flat. against the package 10 and preventing tilting of the 10 clasp when the device has been secured around a package of letters. e

The member 1 from its center to its respective ends is of. compound curve formation, that'is to say, it comprises two compound curved portions respectively disposed on opposite sides of its centers (Figs. 2 and 3). This construction provides spaces 11 and 12 between the members 1 and 2 for the accommodation of the cord 8 and for firmly gripping it. The ends 13 of the member 2 are bent upwardly and, in connection with the downwardly bent or curved ends 14 of the member 1, provide entry mouths for.

' facilitating the passage of the cord 8 be tween the membersl and 2. Preferably, the

member 1 is of greater length than the member 2 so'that the ends 13 will not interfere with the rapid and easy entry of the cord 8 between the ends 13 and 14.

The resiliency of the member 2 maintains its ends down upon the under portions ofthe member 1 and prevents disengagement of the cord.

The invention is adapted for use in connection with other articles than-letters and mail matter and I do not restrict its use.

p The clasp being of duplex form, vthe device is adapted for'use both by left and righthanded persons. 40 Having thus described my invention, what I- claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: I i 1. In a package tie, a clasp consisting of upper and lower members, at least one of which is resilient, whose outer parts arefrec, said members being connected together in the region of their central portion, the lower of said members having an upwardly extending arch where said members are conneeted together, and a cord extendin through the crown of the arch and providec l with an upper retainer, the free portion of said cord bein adapted to lie in the arch.

2. In a package tie, a clasp consisting of members, at least one of which is resilient, one of said members having lips embracing the edges of the other member at substantially the central portion thereof.

3. The hereindescribed package tie, consisting of a lower member of double compound curve formation having at its central part an arch, and provided with lips at its edges, an upper resilient member secured to the arched portion of the lower member by the lips aforesaid, said upper and lower members having divergent ends and also provided with a hole extending through the central portion thereof in the vicinity of the arch, and a cord extending through the hole and provided with a knot or retainer lying above the upper member and having its portion below the lower member adapted to lie in the arched portion aforesaid.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CLIFTON I. MILLER.

' \Vitnesses:

SARAH V. LOOKWOOD CHARLES H. Dome, d r.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

